Loss of a Demon, Loss of a Hero
by Inazuma Tate
Summary: Naruto is banished after putting Sasuke in a near death state during the battle of the VOTE. Fortunately for him, his father had a backup plan for this, just in case... NaruTayu AU Sasuke and Sakura bashing OOCness in severe doses
1. Memory Seals and Redheads

This is only my second fanfic, but it should be a lot better than my first one, due to the fact that I actually have half of a storyline planned out in my head. I have learned from my mistakes; never start a story and then decide to just make it up as you go along. You end up running out of ideas. Anyway, I'm getting off topic. This will be a NaruTayu fic, mostly because, well, Hinata is too shy in my opinion, Sakura is too bitchy, and the rest of the girls in canon are either self absorbed, or busy stalking Sasuke. Once again, off topic. I shall continue this rant at the end of the chapter, or just put it in my profile.

NaruTayu AU fic, strong Naruto. Sasuke bashing. (I don't like the emo boy)

Summary: Naruto is banished from Konoha after nearly killing Sasuke while bringing him back. When he is banished, a seal, placed on him by the Yondaime as he was dying, activates, slowly giving him all of the knowledge of his families special Jutsus'. This seal also affects his personality, changing him. (For the better.) When the seal breaks, Naruto is left with one thing in mind. Kumorigakure. With a foul-mouthed redhead at his side, and the powers of a demon lord at his back, he ventures towards a truly hidden village that may just fulfill his dream of being respected.

It's a bird!

It's a plane!

No! It's skywriting!

What does it say?

I don't own Naruto!

...Whaaaa?

_Loss of a Demon, Loss of a Hero_

_Chapter One_

_Inazuma Tate_

* * *

_12 Years Ago_

_The Sandaime Hokage held the small baby out to his white haired former student. _"_Jiraiya, here he is."_

_Jiraiya nodded and studied the seals that were still easily visible, even hours rushing after the sealing. Suddenly he stiffened. _"_Damn Minato. I should have known you would pull something like this." _

_The Sandaime leaned towards the white haired Sannin. _"_What is it?"_

_Jiraiya sighed. _"_You know that fuuinjutsu is the art of sealing, right Sarutobi?" When Sarutobi nodded the affirmative, the pervert continued. "Well, normal scrolls are about as simple sealing can be. Think about it like this. Each word that exists has a certain meaning, and by writing this word down, you have sealed the knowledge into the paper that it was written on. Minato was a seal master, and he was working on a way to transfer the information sealed inside of an average scroll, into someones mind, effectively maximizing the time you could improve on something. This seal here," Jiraiya pointed to a seal on the infants stomach, "Is the product of that research. When Minato first went out with all of his scrolls on sealing techniques, and especially Hiraishin no jutsu I began to wonder what he was doing."_

_Realization dawned on the elderly Hokage's features. _"_You mean to say that this child has all of the collective knowledge of the Namikaze and Uzumaki clans?"_

_All Jiraiya could do was nod. _"_And this is just Minato's back up plan. Should a mind altering seal ever be placed on Naruto, the seal will break, but the process must be jump started by something that Minato found familiar. I believe that the focal point of this seal was based on Naruto seeing Kushina after the placement of the seal, canceling out the interfering seal and flooding little Naruto's mind with all of the jutsu, research, sealing techniques, and whatever else Minato saw fit to place inside that seal."_

_The Hokage looked pensive. _"_Wouldn't that kill Naruto? That much information should overload his mind, if it were to all be absorbed at once."_

_Jiraiya nodded. _"_It would, but Naruto has two things going for him. The Kyuubi, and the fact that the seal will release the information back to him while he sleeps, effectively allowing his mind to cope with the sudden influx of information."_

_All of a sudden The doors to the Hokage's study were thrown open; an ANBU member skidding to a halt. _"_Hokage-sama, the council wishes to see you. I believe they wish to decide the boy's fate." _

_The Hokage nodded. _"_Dismissed." The ANBU saluted and then promptly vanished in a puff of smoke. Sarutobi sighed as he eased himself into the chair. "Damn vultures. They probably want to kill Naruto."_

_Jiraiya walked to the door. _"_If you can't stop them, I will."_

_The Sandaime Hokage stood, and walked out the door. _"_They will not harm Naruto. I will make sure of that."_

_

* * *

_

_Flash Forward_

_The Day After Team Assignments_

S_akura was skipping happily towards her house, content in her thoughts of being on the same team as Sasuke. She stumbled slightly when she remembered that Naruto as on her team as well, but quickly banished that thought. Sakura quickly opened the door to her home and ran inside, slamming the door to get her mothers attention._

_Sakura's mother looked up from her work, "Sakura, sweetie, how did it go?"_

_Sakura smiled, "It went great, I'm on Sasuke-kuns team! Not even the fact that Naruto-baka is on our team too can bring me down."_

_Sakura's mother's smile slipped **(say that five times fast)**, "Naruto? As in Uzumaki Naruto?"_

_Sakura nodded and crossed her arms over her chest, "Yeah, I know it stinks. I mean, he didn't even pass the genin exam in the first place! How can he be a ninja?"_

_Sakura's mother frowned, "Sakura-chan, there's something you should know about that... Brat. He isn't human."_

_Sakura blinked, "Mom, he's stupid and obsessed with me, but he's definitely human."_

_"No, Sakura. what I am about to tell you is an S-class secret, and you cannot tell anyone, or let anyone know you know this, or you will be killed. Uzumaki Naruto is the Kyuubi no Kitsune. The Yondaime was unable to kill the Kyuubi, instead he sealed away its power and turned it into a baby. Uzumaki Naruto is evil."_

_

* * *

_

_End of Sasuke Retrieval Arc_

Naruto stood in front of the assembled council, wondering why he was brought here. As a matter of fact, he realized, he had been wondering about a lot of things lately, more specifically Sakura's behavior towards the return of Naruto and Sasuke.

_Flashback_

_Naruto was just able to make out the walls that surrounded Konoha as he trudged slowly along the dirt path, his muscles protesting every step fiercely. The dead weight on his back that was Sasuke did nothing to help the matter. After a few minutes of pained movement, he reached the gates of Konoha. Spotting a familiar head of pink hair, he put on his giant grin and began jogging a little faster._

_"__Sakura-chan! I did it, I brought back the teme-!" Naruto was thrown backwards, tumbling head over heels trying to regain his bearings. While he lied dazed on his back he looked up in confusion at what had happened. What he saw was almost enough to make him cry. Sakura was sanding there, with her fist covered in blood._

_A nameless Konoha nin picked up Sasuke and spoke. _"_I will take Sasuke-san to the hospital. You should treat Naruto-san's wounds here, they appear to be much more severe." With that, the ninja vanished in a swirl of leaves._

_Sakura looked at Naruto with disgust written on her face. _"_I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU NARUTO!! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO SASUKE-KUN!! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BRING HIM BACK, NOT DAMN NEAR KILL HIM!!" Naruto attempted to speak but was cut off by Sakura. "I KNEW YOU WERE JEALOUS OF HIM, BUT HOW COULD YOU BEAT SASUKE LIKE THAT? OH WAIT, I KNOW IT'S BECAUSE YOU REALLY ARE A DEMON!! IF YOU CAN'T GET WHAT YOU WANT, YOU START KILLING!!" As Sakura finished this final proclamation, she reared her fist back to hit Naruto again, when someone grabbed her fist and threw her into the ground. Naruto could barely make out Tsunade before he blacked out._

_Flashback End_

Naruto took his seat at the epicenter of the circular council chamber.

The council members quickly quieted down, and as though it had been rehearsed before, the man known as Danzo stood up and spoke. "Uzumaki Naruto, you have been brought here today for your illicit assault against a shinobi of Konoha; Uchiha Sasuke. You have been found guilty by all members of the civilian council, and therefore, you have two options. You can be executed, or you can be banished, and have any memories of chakra intensive techniques, and sensitive information sealed off by the memory seal. You may now choose."

As he sat down, the doors were thrown open, and standing there was an enraged Tsunade. "What is the meaning of this? You can not sentence a Konoha shinobi without my approval."

Danzo simply smiled. "Quite right Tsunade, but in this case, the council controls the sentence, due to the fact that there is only one Uchiha left, and thus we must make an example of his attacker. People can not just attack the last of a clan and expect to get away with it now can they?" Tsunade just snarled as Jiraiya popped up from out of nowhere and walked up behind Naruto.

Jiraiya spoke into Naruto's ear "Hey, Gaki. Take banishment, that way I can protect you without the councils' interference, because you will no longer be a Konoha shinobi." Naruto looked upset, but nodded slightly.

Danzo looked up. "Banishment it is. My Ne forces will place the seal on him and be done with it, but for now…" Naruto felt a sharp pain on his arm. When he looked down he saw a needle poking out of his forearm. "He will be taken to the outlying village, before being sent to clean up the destruction of the Konoha forests. I believe the most damage was caused by a Suna nin as she came to the rescue of one Nara Shikamaru." A few seconds later Naruto collapsed, unconscious.

The machines, beeping incessantly, were beginning to get on the nerves of even the most stoic of the Rookie Nine and company.

Shikamaru was the first to break the almost silence. "Where is Naruto? From what I heard he was injured far worse than the Uchiha here." Shikamaru looked down distastefully at the sole remaining Uchiha.

Sakura looked up almost instantly, moving her head from its place on Sasuke's shoulder. "Why should anyone care? He should be killed for harming Sasuke-kun. I mean come on, how could he even come close to Sasuke's level without doing something illegal to get all of that power?"

Ino looked at Sakura in disgust. "How can you say that Sakura? You of all people should know how strong Naruto is."

Sakura sneered. "All I remember is Sasuke-kun and I saving his life, over and over again. Did you guys know that in the wave mission, Sasuke-kun and I saved him from Zabuza and his apprentice? Or how about when Sasuke-kun saved him from Gaara during the Chuunin exams."

Temari looked up from her seat near the door. "Sorry to burst your bubble, pinky, but your precious Sasuke didn't even come close to beating Gaara. Naruto beat Gaara. Even after the actual demon came out. And besides, what made you think that Sasuke bested Gaara in the first place?"

Sakura actually looked surprised. "It's because Naruto is too weak to even scratch Sasuke-kun, let alone a demon."

At that, Shino leaned forwards. "That is impossible Haruno-san. If Naruto was unable to even scratch Sasuke, then how would he be able to almost kill him and still have enough energy to bring him back to Konoha?"

Sakura smiled. "Because he is a demon." Everyone in the room except the Sand siblings and Shino jumped in shock.

Kiba was the first to speak. "What the hell are you going on about Sakura?"

Sakura put her head back on Sasuke's shoulder. "No human can kill a demon. The Yondaime was no exception. Instead of killing the Kyuubi no Kitsune, like we were all told, he sealed it inside of Naruto, right after he was born."

Shikamaru spoke up after a small silence. "This makes Naruto a demon how exactly?"

Sakura looked up at him with a slightly psychotic gleam in her eye. "Because Naruto is a dobe, There's no way he could ever even dream to match Sasuke, I mean not only was he Rookie of the Year, but Sasuke is an Uchiha."

Neji snorted. "As was I the year before, and to top that, I am a Hyuuga. If there is anything Naruto taught me, it's that genius is nothing without the hard work to back it up. All power comes at a price, and only those who truly work for it know what power is truly worth"

Sakura shook her head. "You may be good, but you are no Sasuke. He's the best. The only way for Naruto to have defeated him, was if he was an incredibly powerful demon. You all believe me, right guys?" Everyone just shook their heads. Sakura's features became twisted in pure rage. "You mean you all believe that Naruto can match Sasuke? No, no. It's not true. I'll bet the demon got to them. Yes, that must be it..."

Ino nudged Sakura. "We're still here Sakura."

Sakura just shook herself from her daze. "Don't worry guys, I'll get the villagers to help get rid of Naruto, then, once the demon is dead, you will finally see it for what it really is."

Everyone in the room just started edging away from the clearly deranged girl. Then, before any of them could react, Sakura had jumped out the window. Almost instantly, Ino was there, watching Sakura run into the village.

Shikamaru was the first to speak. "This is troublesome, now we have to warn the Hokage about how the entire village is going to try and kill Naruto at every chance they get."

Kiba shook his head. "Come on Shikamaru, you don't really mean everybody... Do you?"

Shino was the one to answer this question. "You all remember the days surrounding October 10th, Naruto would skip school, and if any of us were able to catch a glimpse of him, he would be covered in blood and bandages?"

Shikamaru nodded. "I think it's safe to assume this won't be the first time the villagers have attempted to kill him. Anyway, don't we have a Hokage to warn?"

Everyone in the room nodded and spoke. "HAI!!" Everyone blurred out of the room except Shikamaru.

He looked around. "Troublesome..." He left through the door, and began walking down the stairs.

* * *

Naruto awoke to find himself in a small room, with Jiraiya looming over him. "Ero-Sannin? What are you doing here?"

The pervert just shook his head."Stop calling me that, Gaki. Anyway, as you know the council has had you banished. I managed to talk it over with Danzo, and I will be the one applying your seal."

Naruto just looked confused. "What seal?"

Jiraiya smacked his head with his hand. "The memory seal. I figured that if I am the one to apply the seal, then the council will not be able to claim that it was not given properly, and have you killed for security reasons."

Naruto paled. "But why am I here?"

The Sannin shook his head. "Your pink haired friend gather the villagers and organized a mob."

Naruto blinked. "But wh-aaaa!" Naruto suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head, as though his brain was trying to bash its way out of his skull. A few seconds later, he fell unconscious.

Jiraiya sighed. "This is not going to be fun."

* * *

_One Day Later_

Naruto wiped the sweat from his brow. He had been working at cleaning up the mess that some ninja had made in the forest; some sand kunoichi took out all of the trees with a blast of wind. He hadn't really listened to what had happened, in his mind all that mattered was that he was the one to be doing all of the work. Naruto sighed. 'What the hell did I do to deserve this kind of workload? I mean, I just came to Konoha!' His musings were interrupted by a soft groan. Naruto jumped; swiveling his head to try and pinpoint where the sound was coming from. It didn't take long before he found its source. An arm sticking out of a pile of bowled over trees.

"Hey, if you can hear me, make another noise." Naruto cocked an ear for a moment before hearing a much louder grunt. "All right, give me a minute and I'll have you out of there. He leapt over to the log that was lying on the top, and placing both hands on the log, attempted to roll it off of the person's arm. After about a minute of straining himself, he slipped and smashed his head into the log. Hard. The wood began to groan and then toppled down. This first action created a domino effect, because soon after, the rest of the logs covering the person were following the first log down the hill. Naruto sat up, still feeling dazed from the impact. After clearing his head, he looked at the newly freed person. The first thing that came to mind when he saw the mass of red hair was a name. 'Kushina...' Naruto blinked in confusion. 'Where the hell did that come from?' He leaned over the girl and picked her up. 'Looks like she could use a hospital visit. At least I can finally take a break now.' He shifted the girl around in his arms until he was carrying her bridal style. As soon as he felt that he had her in a decent enough hold, he began going as fast as he could to the nearest town, while attempting not to cause any more damage, or wake her up. He only managed one of his goals.

"Hey shithead, put me down!" Naruto flinched at the sheer volume of the cry.

He looked at the foul mouthed girl in his arms. "Keep it down would you? Is this any way to talk to the person who saved your life?"

The redhead sputtered indignantly. "Help? I didn't need your fucking help dammit! I would have been fine without your help shithead!"

Naruto sighed. "How about we try this again? Hello, my name is Naruto. What's your name?"

The girl glared at him. "Tayuya... Hey, I know you! You're that loudmouthed idiot who tried to bring that faggoty ass prettyboy back to Konoha! How did that go, anyway?"

Naruto stopped and gently set Tayuya down against a tree. "Maah... I heard about that mission, but I wasn't involved in it. I'm no shinobi after all."

Naruto then plopped himself down right beside Tayuya, who looked like the world had ended. "Like hell you weren't involv- hey, what's that on the back of your neck?"

Naruto craned his head to the side, trying to get a better look. "What's what on my neck? Is it a bug or something?"

Tayuya rolled her eyes. "Shut up Stumpy, and put your back to me." Naruto complied, mostly out of confusion. Tayuya dragged her fingertips lightly across his neck, tracing the symbols that made up a seal. 'Damn, what the hell did this kid do to be banished, from what I heard from people passing by, was that the mission was a success, why would they punish the kid unless...' Tayuya smiled wryly 'Damn, favoritism at its greatest.' "Damn Stumpy, what the hell did you do to get yourself banished?" She muttered under her breath.

Naruto looked up. "You say something?"

Tayuya instantly yelled at him. "None of your damn business shithead! Now, are you going to help me, or are you just going to take a nap?"

Naruto smirked. "Well, I am feeling a little tired right now so..."

Tayuya's eyes bugged out. "Oh, FUCK no you are going to help me NOW DAMMIT!!"

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "As you command, Tayuya-hime." Naruto moved to pick up the girl but was met with a fist.

"Call me that again and I'll fucking castrate you!!" Tayuya yelled.

Naruto flinched. He knew when to draw the line. He picked up Tayuya and began his slow journey home. Around half an hour later the two of them were standing in front of Naruto's shabby apartment. "This is where you live? What the hell kind of a shithole is it?"

Naruto shrugged. "Looks aren't everything, just as long as everything works in my apartment I'm happy, and unless you would rather go to the hospital..."

Tayuya smacked the back of his head. "I told you, that is not going to happen. I may never be able walk again, but there's no way in hell I am going to spend the rest of my life in a jail cell."

Naruto shrugged and walked into his apartment, setting the swearing girl down on his couch before collapsing on the floor.

Tayuya began pelting him with leftover instant ramen cups. "Stumpy! Get the fuck up, I'm hungry." Naruto just made a noncommittal grunt and promptly fell asleep. Tayuya sighed. 'Bastard didn't even get me some food.' Tayuya leaned back into the couch, trying to get to sleep. A few moments later, she succeeded.

* * *

_Naruto's Mindscape_

Naruto was standing on a grate, and in front of him there was a barrier. The barrier looked as though it was about to break, like a dam that was holding too much water. Naruto saw himself in front of the barrier beating on it as hard as he could. Soon, the barrier began groaning and buckling. He backed away from the barrier, unsure of how he was watching himself break down a barrier. Suddenly, the barrier exploded, but instead of water pouring out from it, images and information began streaming through the hole that had been made. Naruto was stricken with fear; he began running away from the stream, although he didn't get very far. He soon tripped over his own feet, and was temporarily rendered immobile as the information beam struck him in the forehead. The only thing he could do was sit there, and let the information continue into his mind. As the flow slowed, and then finally stopped, the room began to darken, until he could see nothing. Suddenly, images flashed past his eyes, almost like a slide show. Naruto saw himself, then images of a dark haired boy with an emo expression flashed past. And then Naruto realized something. He knew. He knew who they were, how he knew them and most importantly, he knew himself. This may not seem like much to most people, he realized, but even just going one day without knowing yourself, is two days too long. Soon after, the images faded, and then Naruto's consciousness fell into a deep slumber, giving his mind time to cope with everything that had just been unleashed upon his mind. However, one thing refused to leave him, even in his truly unconscious state. It sounded like a deep, extremely menacing voice, and it was coming from a giant red face that belonged to a fox, and it kept saying the same thing, over and over again.

**Kumorigakure... Acceptance is here...**

Yeah, my second fanfic. Hopefully, this one will have a much better reception than my first. Mostly because of the slightly longer chapter, and the unusual pairing. That, and my writing has greatly improved (I hope).

Anyway, this is what shall be known henceforth as the **CANON PAIRINGS RANT**

Yeah, this is mostly just me complaining about how crappy the characters are in canon. Skip if you must, review or die.

All of the girls in canon, suck. None of them will end up with Naruto. Why? Because the entire series has become Sasuke-centric. He is insanely powerful in canon now, and Naruto can't even use Rasenshuriken without getting his arm royally fucked. I mean, why not just rename the series Sasuke instead of Naruto? The way the series is headed, Naruto is going to become the major antagonist, because he keeps trying to get Sasuke to go back to Konoha. Anyway, Hinata is too shy for Naruto. Instead of giving Naruto a girl that just liked him, Kishimoto gave Naruto a creepy stalker girl who can't even show him that she likes him. And then just about all of the other girls in the entire series, (minus Tenten and Temari) are all Sasuke fangirls! I mean, why not just kill Naruto off already? He's gotten nothing, the training he went through with Jiraiya did nothing to Naruto's character, or his power. All that changed was his height, and his goddamn clothes! True, he did need to get rid of the orange, but then his clothes weren't even changed completely. Sasuke got a complete overhaul on everything, and Naruto didn't get shit.

Rant end.

Inazuma Tate

**Edit-Sept 09/2008-**I mixed up the story a bit, gave a bit of background on the reason for Sakura's hatred of Naruto, so... Yeah.

**Edit-Nov 30/2008**-I had a couple of complaints about the format of the story so I decided, since I can't write the rest of the story for awhile, why not fix up the stuff I have written already?


	2. Tayuya's Training, The Journey Begins!

Alright, chapter two. WOOT!! Ever since I finished chapter one, I have been having some decent ideas for some other odd pairings (no harems) like, NarutoxYugito, NarutoxFemHaku. (Haku is a girl, we all know it) and hell, I even have one for NarutoxKin. But, anyway, on to chapter 2!!

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Naruto awoke with his head feeling like it had been used for target practice by Tsunade. Naruto shuddered. _'The only person who can come back from one of those punches is Ero-Sannin. I wonder if it's because he has built up a resistance to them.'_ As Naruto sat up, cradling his head, he was lightly slapped. Naruto started, then slowly turned his head in the direction the slap came from. He saw a girl, with red hair splayed out across his couch; the offending limb laying just off of the worn cushions that made up his overused sofa. As Naruto stood up, he heard a low rumbling that came from Tayuya's stomach. Almost in recognition of her hunger, she brought her arm back on to the couch, and curled it around her stomach. She then promptly began snoring softly, with Naruto smiling down at the sheer cuteness of her actions while sleeping, especially compared to her actions while she was awake. Naruto went to get some food from the cupboards, namely ramen. As Naruto set the water to boil, he heard Tayuya mumbling something in her sleep. After a moment of wrestling with his conscience, he walked over to Tayuya's head and leaned over it, trying to make out the words.

"Naruto... mmph mmn phoo." Naruto leaned a little closer, and was met with a fist that sent him flying across his living room, and into his television set. Naruto groaned, while lying in the debris that was once a television. He tilted his head up, even though his vision was swimming in and out of focus, and saw Tayuya, face down on the couch, with her fist straight out. She turned her head towards Naruto. "Wheres my goddamn food you asshole." Naruto smacked himself in the face, then stood up and slowly ambled over to the boiling water while cursing his stupidity for smacking his already aching head. Naruto looked up from pouring ramen into the hot water as Tayuya eased herself into a sitting position.

"Hey Tayuya, what's with all of the swearing? I don't think I did anything to deserve such harsh words, even if I did screw up your Sasuke retrieval mission." Tayuya twitched.

"I thought you said you didn't know anything about that mission." Naruto blinked owlishly.

"I... ehhh... uhhh... remember now?" Naruto shrugged. Tayuya smacked her head on the armrest, then sat straight up so fast Naruto could've sworn he heard bones snapping.

"Wait a minute... Alright, get over here Stumpy, I need to check something out." Naruto nodded apprehensively. He knew how much those punches hurt. _'She has a lot more muscle compared to Sakura. Then again, Sakura just fawns on Sasuke. Tayuya actually trains.'_

"Hai, Tayuya. Just don't hit me again... Please?" Tayuya rolled her eyes as Naruto sat on the ground in front of her.

"Weakling..." Tayuya mumbled as she brushed Naruto's hair away from his neck to get a better look at the memory suppression seal that was in place the night before. "Wha? How did this happen?..." Tayuya spoke under her breath. Naruto barely caught the words.

"How did what happen?" Naruto asked as he turned around. Tayuya just shook her head in amazement. Or confusion.

"You had a memory suppression seal, My guess is that you were stripped of rank, and banished from the Konoha nin ranks." Naruto put his head to the side.

"But, aren't those seals completely irreversible? That _is_ why they are so complicated to make and apply, right?" Tayuya nodded.

"Yeah, but one of the things Orochimaru was teaching us, being the sound five, was that although the Ban Seals, as they are called by most, cannot be removed, they can be protected against. Orochimaru was trying to figure out a way to do this." Naruto scratched the back of his head, and looked as though he was deep in thought. All of a sudden, his eyes lit up.

"Hey, Tayuya-chan, I think that was the longest you've ever gone without swearing!" The sound of cracking knuckles and low growling was enough to snap Naruto out of his patented "thinking pose". His eyes widened in fear as he looked at a _very_ angry Tayuya with the promise of pain in her eyes.

"Tayuya-_chan_??" Naruto gulped.

"I-I t-think I better get the r-ramen, no?" Tayuya nodded very slowly, the fire in her eyes diminishing slightly.

"And I have an idea for your training." Naruto looked at her, quite confused.

"Training?" Naruto stood up and walked over the cooked ramen. Tayuya sighed.

"We have an unprecedented opportunity here, we would be fools to waste it!" Naruto finished serving the ramen, sat down beside Tayuya and set her ramen down in her lap.

"You mean that since everyone believes that not only have my memories been sealed off, but the fact that they all think I am incapable of self discipline or properly training myself?" Tayuya's mouth was on the verge of being unhinged.

"What. The. FUCK?!" She practically yelled. Naruto flinched, the noise causing further brain damage. "When the hell did you get so smart? I may not have known you for long, but you didn't seem the type to use any words that had more than three syllables in them." Naruto closed his eyes.

"I'm... not sure. I remember hearing those words before, but now I know what they mean, and how to integrate them into a sentence." he opened his eyes in time to see Tayuya's jaw go a little lower. "I did it again didn't I?" Tayuya couldn't do anything but nod. Naruto just laughed, then closed his eyes once again. _'Well, if it was possible to feel smart, I'd imagine this is what it would feel like. Everything that I have been taught, everything I heard, it's all at my fingertips. Eheheh, my mind is organized... THIS IS AWESOME!!."_ He smiled, and his eyes snapped open. "What are we waiting for? I have nothing to do all day, for about half of a year. Let the training begin!"

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_'DEAR GOD, let the training end!!'_ was the only thought continually running through Naruto's mind, as his shadow clones practiced Jutsus that Tayuya had stolen from the public study area, (under a henge, of course) and he himself was run into the ground. The once limitless energy Naruto had quickly ran out, as soon as Tayuya figured out he had it. If Lee had seen the training regime Naruto had been put through for the past six months, even he would back away, spouting about how his flames of youth were not vibrant enough to undertake such training. The training was so intense and grueling, that it would scar your lives forever should you read it. Unfortunately for Naruto, not only did he read it, but he also went through it, every day for six months. His healing factor allowing him to stretch his muscles to the breaking point, and having them perfectly healed, and much stronger, the very next day. Tayuya had even made him write out a list of every Jutsu he knew, and then forced him to master at least one new one per month. The chakra training exercises had paid off several times over, in Naruto's opinion. He now wasted virtually no chakra when performing jutsu, his jutsu were much more powerful, and the best thing, in his opinion, was that he could make the Rasengan, on handed, with no clones. It took Tayuya bashing him on the head to stop him from jumping for joy and screaming to the heavens. After six months of nonstop secret training, he was finally awarded a day off.

"It's about time!" Naruto spoke, relieved, right before he threw himself on his bed. Tayuya just smiled.

"You've definitely earned it, Stumpy." Naruto groaned and buried his head further into his pillow. Tayuya smirked, and wheeled herself away in a wheelchair that Naruto had swiped for her from the hospital five months ago. Mere seconds after attempting to sleep, there was several knocks on the door to Naruto's apartment. Tayuya instantly changed direction, and hid herself in the spare room of Naruto's apartment. Naruto groaned yet again, as he dragged himself out of his bed and opened the door to his apartment. In the doorway stood Jiraiya.

"Ero-Sannin?" Jiraiya's eyes widened, and he leapt into the apartment, his hand covering Naruto's mouth.

"How in the hell did you crack that seal kid?" Naruto looked confused for a second before he put his hand behind his head.

"I don't know, I came back from finishing up the cleanup of the mission with Tayuya, and-" Jiraiya's eyes widened.

"Tayuya? As in the Sound ninja? What the hell is wrong with you kid?" Naruto shrugged.

"Nothing, I just felt compelled to help her is all. I couldn't really go against it." Jiraiya closed the door behind him.

"Tayuya of the Sound, you can come out now. I won't turn you in to the ANBU, if that's what you're thinking." The two males heard a door slam.

"Fine, you damn pervert. But if you go back on your word, you'll find out about all of the painful things I can do with eating utensils. The perverts eyes widened as he looked at Tayuya.

"Just like Kushina... of course." This piqued Naruto's interest.

"Who's Kushina, Ero-Sannin?" Jiraiya continued to stare off into space, before being brought back to reality by a perfectly executed shoe to the face by Tayuya. Naruto smiled. In his mind there was a chibi Naruto holding up a scorecard that had 9.5 on it, with a chibi Tayuya standing on top of a chibi Jiraiya, while holding the good guy pose. Jiraiya spoke.

"Kushina was your mother, Naruto. One of the seals the Yondaime placed on you at birth was to activate when you saw your mother." Naruto looked confused.

"What good would that to?" Jiraiya sat down on the couch.

"When a human brain actually matures, the memories of your mother are ingrained into your mind, either from close proximity, or from something else that we don't understand quite yet..." Jiraiya gestured towards Tayuya. "... Although, you seem to have broken the seal by being around someone who not only has the major attribute of your mother, her red hair, but also the similarity of their personalities. And even if you hadn't found her, you would have subconsciously continued looking for someone who resembled her." Naruto's eyes widened.

"Is that why I kept going after Sakura? She had pink hair, and it was pretty close to red, but that didn't work." Jiraiya nodded.

"That would have explained your devotion to her, you were subconsciously being drawn to her by an imprint of your mother's appearance and personality left on your mind. Unfortunately, Sakura was a fangirl through and through; nothing like your mother." Tayuya cut in.

"Now, why the hell would the Yondaime do something like that? It doesn't make any sense, why seal the Kyuubi into him and then make him stupid?" Jiraiya shook his head.

"He did this to protect Naruto the best he could. He knew that by sealing the fox into Naruto he would die. He also suspected that the villagers would fear him, although he believed the shinobi of the village to be able to discern the difference between the jailer and prisoner. He knew that if Naruto was in any way shown to excel at something, the majority of the villagers would believe it to by the demon's doing. So he... Dumbed Naruto down a little." Naruto stood up.

"Well, I understand. If I were to be unusually intelligent, the villagers would jump to the worst conclusions possible." Naruto scratched his chin thoughtfully. "It may even have been worse than year eight..." His voice trailed off at the looks his two house guests were giving him. Tayuya was the first to speak.

"Year eight? What the hell is so important about year eight?" Jiraiya sent Naruto a piercing glare.

"I would like to know this as well. Please, continue." Naruto backed away, and waved his arms in a disarming manner.

"Nothing happened, it was a slip of the tongue." The glares intensified, and he soon wilted under the pressure. "Alright, but you both have to promise not to tell anyone about this." Tayuya and Jiraiya nodded in unison. "Well, as you both know, the villagers only saw me as the Kyuubi, not Naruto. Usually, the only time they would get violent, is around the Kyuubi festival. However, one of my early teachers, the ones that hated me, let it slip that I was attending the academy. The villagers were not pleased, to say the least. It was the worst beating I had received; if a medic-nin had not seen me in the alley, I would have died, even with Kyuubi's healing factor..." Naruto turned around and lifted his shirt to show the scars on his back."... My back gets scars. I think it's because there are too many nerves to heal quickly enough without causing me to go into shock." Naruto then let his shirt down. Tayuya whistled.

"Damn man, and I thought my life was bad. You know, just for that, you have been promoted from Stumpy." Naruto smiled. At least one person didn't instantly pity him.

"And what have I been promoted to, Tayuya?" Tayuya smiled.

"You have been promoted to... Uzumaki." Naruto face faulted. Jiraiya just stood up and stretched his arms.

"Well, anyway, the similarities in personality between Tayuya and Kushina should be enough to break the seal; considering it has weakened considerably. It should have broken years ago. Anyway, here's a present, gaki." Naruto looked up questioningly.

"What do you mean?" The Toad Sannin reached into a pocket, and pulled out a folded photograph. Naruto hesitantly took the picture and opened it, only to rocket back from a giant nosebleed. Jiraiya took the picture from Naruto's quivering body, and looked at it. He smiled lecherously.

"Oops, wrong picture. Let me see here..." He reached into several other pockets, before pulling out yet another picture. "Here you go kid, this here's a picture of your mother and father." Naruto stood up, swaying slightly from blood loss. He took the picture from the perverted man, and handed it to Tayuya.

"I don't trust him... Could you make sure it's not porn this time Tayuya?" Tayuya snorted.

"Fine, Uzumaki." She unfolded the picture. Inside the glossy photograph, stood a beautiful red haired woman, and a blond man whose arms wrapped around her tightly. "Hold on... It's the Yondaime!" Naruto jumped.

"The Yondaime is my mother?"

"NO YOU FUCKING IDIOT! HE'S YOUR FATHER!" Jiraiya ambled towards the door.

"See you two lovebirds later; my research senses are tingling. Before I go..." Jiraiya stopped halfway through the door. "You two should get out of here as soon as possible. It will take at least another eight days for the information stored in Minato's seal to fully integrate itself into Naruto's brain. When that time comes, I want you two to be long gone... Say, seven days?" With that, he shut the door. Naruto placed the picture of his parents in his pocket.

"So Uzumaki, what do you say we pack and leave?" Naruto took a deep breath and nodded.

"My family name isn't Uzumaki. It's Namikaze. Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto. Tayuya grunted.

"Well then, Namikaze. Shall we pack?" Naruto smiled.

"Let's"

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Naruto sighed as he sank into the bliss that is sleep. He had spent all day packing, with Tayuya directing him. He closed his eyes, and prepared himself for the relief of unconsciousness. When he next opened his eyes, he was standing in front of a giant cage, with a monstrous fox standing in front of him. Naruto smacked himself in the head.

"Dammit fox, I was trying to sleep." Suddenly, the a grinning visage loomed out of the darkness behind the bars.

"**Silence, you skinbag. I have called you here to reason with you."** Naruto quirked an eyebrow.

"Alright fox, I'm listening." The fox's smiled vanished.

"**I suppose it would be futile to attempt to dissuade you from taking along the cripple?"** Naruto snorted.

"No shit." The fox snarled.

"**Fine, I was going to tell you a way to fix your friend's physical impairment, but if you continue to disrespect me like that..."** The threat was left out, but Naruto's eyes had lit up as soon as the Kyuubi had mentioned a way to restore Tayuya's body.

"How can I help her Kyuubi-sama? Please tell me?" The fox smiled again.

"**Much better, kit. Anyway, I would like you to split my power with her.." **Naruto's eyes narrowed at this, but he didn't interrupt. **"Now, in doing this not only would I die, but your physical attributes that are caused by my residence here, would disappear. This is because you would now hold about four and one half tails of power, and it would be untainted by my intent."** Naruto opened his mouth, but before he could form a question, the Kyuubi interrupted. **"I know what you are about to ask, kit. Why would I give this power to you and sacrifice my life in the process? It's really quite simple, but let's see if you can keep up. I have been studying this seal, and I know what happens should you die while I am here. Both our souls would be taken by the shinigami, forever. Now, by dying before you, that portion of the seal is deemed null, because we didn't die at the same time. My soul would be sent to another plane, thus saving me from an eternity of torture. Yours as well, I might add. And one more thing. I have a summon contract for you. No it is not foxes gaki, it is the phoenix contract. You should feel privileged, you are the first human to sign it. Ever. Sign the contract in blood, blah blah blah, you know the drill."** A scroll poofed out of nowhere and landed in the blond's lap. Naruto signed the scroll, letting it poof back out of existence and then smirked.

"You were going to do this anyway, weren't you?" The fox grinned.

"**Hells yes, I just decided to give you the contract, and tell you how to fix your mate as well."** Naruto began sputtering as his face turned a shade of red that would have made Hinata swear.

"She's not... We're not.." The fox's face disappeared into the shadows once more, only to be replaced with red chakra.

"**I can't hear you kit, LALALALALALALA!"** Naruto watched in amazement as the mass of red chakra pouring out of the cage began turning into a brilliant white colour, as soon as it passed to the outside of the bars. **"Oh, and kit. You won't be able to handle nine tails of power for much longer; in your current state you will last about ten minutes at the most. In order to fix your mate, you must channel all the chakra I am about to give to you. I will only expend half my chakra, until it is all gone."** Naruto left his mindscape with the sound of the fox's laughs still ringing clearly in his ears. All of a sudden he doubled over in pain. _'Damn... Too much chakra... I have to channel it soon... Urghh.' _Naruto did his best to stand up before running to Tayuya, who had taken up residence in the chair in his room. Naruto stood over her, and placed both of his hands over her heart. Her eyes shot open as he began to channel the white, untainted chakra, into her body. Her back arched in a silent scream, until Naruto became to tired to stay standing. As he collapsed on the floor beside Tayuya his vision darkened, and then went black.

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Tayuya blinked as the sun hit her square in the face, almost blinding her.

"Gah, what the hell? Why does it hurt so much?" Suddenly Naruto's actions from last night penetrated her mind. She let out a low growl. "You... Little... FUCKER!!" She jumped to her feet, and kicked Naruto repeatedly, until she realized just what she had done and was doing. _'My... Legs? How are they working? I thought they were screwed up beyond repair?'_ Her thoughts were interrupted by Naruto yawning and slowly standing up. "You! How did you do this?" Tayuya demanded. Naruto rubbed his eyes blearily.

"You mean the walking thing?" Tayuya nodded. "I used Kyuubi's chakra, after it was purified. Apparently, he'd rather die now, then have his soul eaten by the shinigami." Tayuya didn't question it; she knew better than to look a gift horse in the mouth. Instead she did what any normal teenage girl would do. She glomped him until he practically died.

"THANK YOU!! THANK YOU SO MUCH, I CAN WALK! HAHA! I'M FREE!" After a few seconds of celebration, she realized what she was doing to the poor blond boy. She promptly blushed, and sprinted out to the living room, grabbing the bags that had been packed the day before. "W-well, we b-better get going.. Right?" Naruto walked up beside her and nodded, completely oblivious to the embarrassment on her face that would have been obvious to anyone else.

"Let's go, we're burning daylight." He headed out the door, closely followed by Tayuya who shut the door behind her.

"Hey, Naruto?" The blond turned towards Tayuya.

"Yes?" She crossed her arms.

"You do know where we are going, right?" Naruto smiled, and walked towards the civilian gates.

"Sort of." He turned too fast to catch the vein that began pulsing on Tayuya's forehead.

"Where then?" Naruto smiled and then pointed.

"North." Tayuya sweat dropped.

"Naruto... That's west." He turned and scratched the back of his head.

"Then west it is, good idea Tayuya." Tayuya shook her head, grumbling swearwords under her breath as the two of them marched silently past the sleeping Chuunin guards, and began their journey towards... Well, wherever. Naruto with a smile on his face and Tayuya with a scowl on hers.

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Yes, another chapter done. It may be a little shorter, and equally as boring, but don't worry. Next chap: Naruto realizes he can just use a phoenix to ride on, but what happens when he must pass a test? Will Akatsuki get involved? And who is that broody emo kid that is following the duo? You might just find out next time!!

Anyway, to respond to your comments:

Darksnider5: I think this chapter answered your question, but I will clarify. Naruto's intelligence has greatly increased, but the jutsu and weapon techniques given to him will not become known until next chapter at the earliest, and the chapter after that at the latest. I am eager to give Naruto some Kenjutsu, and Hiraishin no Jutsu. There will be a few custom jutsu from the Uzumaki side of this, but for now it will focus on the Namikaze.

Need Improvement: Yeah, I get that. Unfortunately, I have no beta writer, (hint hint) but I am looking for one who could help me with that.

Dfaf: I update frequently, unless reviews stop coming in. I feed off of reviews, I am a reviewatarian. Every couple of days should be the max, unless something comes up, or I forget. Forgetting can easily be fixed with an email.

BigQuise: He will be learning some jutsu, and chakra exhaustion is no longer a problem for either Naruto or Tayuya. They are half as powerful as the Kyuubi no Kitsune itself, even without training they can do some awesome damage.

Ja Ne


	3. Test of Integrity, Flight of the Phoenix

I'M SO SORRY!! SO SO SORRY!! I'm late, I know, but my science teacher called my parents, then they got on my back about working harder, then exams came, and I had no time to write, I IS SO SORRY!!... Ahem... You didn't see anything...

Alright, chapter three is now here. I got a couple complaints about Tayuya hitting Naruto too much, and Naruto being oblivious to her embarrassment of her affectionate actions. To this, I respond:

Naruto, no matter how much smarter he has gotten, is still severely lacking in human contact. He only knows when someone hates him, or is indifferent to him. If he had experienced other emotions towards him, then he might have been different. Right now, Naruto's problem is not that he is an idiot, (not in my story at least) but that he has no wisdom or experience in these things. Now, since he is smarter, he will recognize these emotions sooner, but not as soon as they happen. Intelligence is not the same thing as social maturity.

Oh, and I embarrassed Tayuya in the last chapter, just so that she would not hit him any more. She is in much the same boat as Naruto, lacking in emotional maturity.

I do not own Naruto or the Phoenix contract and related ideas. Naruto belongs to Kishimoto and the Phoenix belongs to azad439's 'The Phoenix Sannin'

**Loss of a Demon, Loss of a Hero**

**Chapter Three**

_**Inazuma Tate**_

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"Are we there yet?" Naruto whined.

"No" Tayuya responded, keeping her gaze locked on the ground in front of her. Things had gone from weird to worse, in her opinion. Mere hours after leaving Konoha, Naruto had admitted that he had no idea where he was headed. So she took over and headed towards the nearest town, which happened to be Tanzaku. However, that was not the strangest thing to her. In her mind, the true oddity was why she was refusing to look at him, or even hit him for being an idiot. She just couldn't do it. _'Dammit, what the hell is wrong with me? My logic is perfect! When Naruto does something idiotic, I hit him! It's not the hardest thing to do... Or it wasn't. What happened?'_ Tayuya's train of thought was interrupted when she realized that Naruto had not spoken for several minutes. She looked up. "Naruto? You still alive?" She turned her head to her side, where Naruto was walking. She saw him walking with his head hanging low. "What's wrong Naruto?" He stopped in the middle of the road and looked up at her, his deep blue eyes piercing through her facade of aloofness.

"I... left them. All of my friends were there, in Konoha, and I left the-" Tayuya interrupted.

"If they couldn't stop your council from putting the Memory seal on you; if they couldn't protect you when you couldn't protect yourself, then they don't deserve your friendship." Naruto sat down sharply, looking dumbfounded. Tayuya couldn't help but let out an uncharacteristic giggle at the sight of Naruto's jaw unhinging itself as he stared at her in disbelief. She quickly put a hand over her mouth to muffle the noise. Naruto stood up slowly, dusting himself off and shaking his head.

"Well... I guess we should get going then, right?" Tayuya nodded, and began walking towards Tanzaku, but not before grabbing Naruto's hand and forcibly dragging him along the road. Naruto stood up and stumbled before catching himself and doing his best to keep up.

"Tayuya, why don't I just use the summoning contract I got from the Kyuubi? The summons can fly, right?" Tayuya stopped so abruptly that he crashed into her back.

"What summoning contract?" Naruto scratched the back of his head.

"Eheh... The Phoenix summoning contract." Tayuya turned.

"You mean to say the we have been walking all this time when instead we could have been flying?" Tayuya's left eye twitched. "NARUTO!!" Naruto backpedaled quickly.

"Tayuya!! I'm summoning, I'm summoning!" Naruto bit his thumb and went through the hand seals.

"**Kuchiyose no Jutsu**!"

An extremely large smoke cloud billowed out from Naruto's hands, obscuring Tayuya's vision. As the smoke began to clear, a deafening screech exploded out from the epicenter of the smoke, blowing away the rest of it.

Naruto stood atop of a giant bird made of black fire, the giant flames licking at the air with a hungry intensity. The bird stretched its wings, beating the air around it at the ground Tayuya was hard pressed to continue breathing. The Phoenix let forth another earth shattering screech before opening its flaming beak, and forming words.

"**Why have I been summoned?**" The Phoenix leaned forwards, forcing Naruto to the ground in an uncontrollable tumble. The Phoenix eyed the blonde boy with disdain. "**You are my summoner? The Phoenix contract is not meant to be held by one as puny as you.**" Naruto's eye twitched.

"I'M NOT SHORT YOU FLAMING TURD PILE!!" Tayuya crept up behind Naruto.

"Naruto... I don't think that you should argue with a giant flaming bird that could easily kill us." Naruto looked down at her sheepishly.

"Well, if you put it that way..." The Phoenix chuckled.

"**You are an interesting one, Naruto. However, before you can summon the noble Phoenix Clans, you must pass a test.**" Naruto paled considerably.

"A-a-a test? Oh man, I'm no good at tests. How about a ramen eating contest instead?" Naruto's proposal elicited another rumbling chuckle from the immortal bird.

"**I was thinking more along the lines of a test of your integrity. How would you use the strength of the Phoenix Clan?**" Naruto put his hand on his chin in a thinking pose.

"I would protect my friends. None of my friends will suffer for as long as I live, and for as long as they are my friends, I will protect them." The fire bird seemed slightly surprised at this statement.

"**Odd... I can sense a taint on you, but your ideals are pure and truthful. Not even your fiery friend behind you is corrupt, despite the demonic chakra I can sense emanating from the both of you... Hmmm... Very well, you have passed the test. My name is Fenikkusueiyo. Now, what is it you summoned me for?**" Naruto scratched the back of his head.

"We needed a lift." It was quite a sight to see, a five story bird composed entirely of fire, sweat dropping.

"**You called me here... To get a lift?**" Naruto nodded sheepishly. "**Well, I am not going to be your steed, but I know one Phoenix who is eager enough to. Mind you, she doesn't get out much.**" Fenikkusueiyo expelled a ball of fire from his beak. On its way to the ground, the fire morphed into a much smaller Phoenix. The small Phoenix looked up at Fenikkusueiyo expectantly.

"**Hikoutei, meet the new Phoenix summoner.**" Hikoutei nodded towards Naruto. "**You are to be his familiar here in the Elemental countries. Naruto, Hikoutei is young, by our standards, but she is eager to see the world. You two have fun.**" Naruto nodded, and was blasted back by a gust of air from one of Fenikkusueiyo wings.

"Oi, shithead... What the hell do you think you're doing?" Naruto looked confused as he lied on the ground before realizing just what Tayuya was talking about. Looking at the position he was in, he instantly blushed. The gust of wind had bowled him over, right into Tayuya, and as he fell he put his hands out to break his fall, with his hands landing on... "PERVERT! Get your hands off my chest you Hentai!!" Naruto jumped up so fast, he almost tripped again.

"Neh, Tayuya, it was an accident, I swear!" Tayuya glowered.

"It damn well have better been. You can't touch me unless I give permission.!" Naruto had a blank look on his face.

"You would let me?" Tayuya froze.

"N-no!" Naruto smiled. Well, more of bared his teeth.

"Suuuure Tayuya-_chan_, sure." Tayuya was about to retort, but was interrupted by a hail of shuriken aimed at Naruto. Naruto and Tayuya were both swept on to the back of Hikoutei. As she took flight, in an attempt to get away from their attacker. She landed down the road, and Naruto jumped off to face his unseen foe. Out of the tree line, stepped one Uchiha Sasuke.

"So then, here you are, dobe." Sasuke sneered before looking at the boss Phoenix summon that was standing silently between the two rivals. Sasuke spoke again. "You... You are a Phoenix! An immortal bird of flame!" Fenikkusueiyo nodded.

"**That is so.**" Sasuke smirked at Naruto before returning his attention back to Fenikkusueiyo.

"I am giving you the opportunity to serve me," The last Uchiha spoke to the Phoenix. "If you give me your power... I will let you become the Uchiha clan summon. Fenikkusueiyo simply roared.

"**Your corruption runs exceedingly deep, almost as deep as your narrow minded arrogance. I would never serve anyone, let alone ally myself with scum such as you!**" Sasuke's face showed only rage.

"You would turn down the chance to serve me? To serve the Uchiha clan? Once I kill Uzumaki you will see the error of your ways! To serve the Uchiha clan is the greatest honour that can be bestowed upon another!" Sasuke roared. Yet another new voice cut in.

"Foolish little brother... You still know nothing of true strength. When I left you all those years ago, you were to use your rage, not let it consume you. You will never become strong." Itachi spoke as he stepped out of the foliage, with Kisame at his side. Sasuke took a step forward and hissed.

"Itachi... TODAY YOU DIE!!" Sasuke sprinted towards Itachi, who still had yet to move at all. Suddenly, Itachi held his hand out, and sent Sasuke flying backwards with a flick of his finger.

"Kisame... I have everything under control here. Get Naruto out of here." Kisame nodded, releasing his hold on the handle of his sword. "Now little brother... Allow me to show you the extent of my true strength, compared to your rage driven fanaticism." With that, Itachi blurred out of existence, and reappeared behind Sasuke, swiftly giving him a hard chop on the back of the neck. Sasuke slumped to the ground, unconscious. "Pitiful..."

Kisame reached Naruto and Tayuya. "You two have been given the chance to join another hidden village, Kumorigakure" He reached into his pockets and pulled out two Hitai-ate with the symbol of a Whirlpool on it. Naruto looked suspiciously at him.

"What the hell? Aren't you the guys trying to kill me?" Kisame sighed, and was about to answer when a voice came from right behind Naruto.

"We do not actually follow Akatsuki, Naruto. A few of Akatsuki's members, are not what they appear. In the beginning, the cause of the organization was much more... Noble. Something has happened however, and the leader has become corrupted." Itachi loomed out from behind Naruto. "We follow one who has the power to stop the wrongdoings of Akatsuki. In this frame of mind, our leader has created Kumorigakure. You shall journey there. Akatsuki's leader does not know of its existence, and you will be safe there." Tayuya took the hitai-ate's from Kisame.

"How can we trust you? How do we know that you are not just going to lead us to our deaths?" Kisame growled.

"You stupid brat! We could have killed you at any time, and instead we waited. Besides, where else are you going to go? You both were abandoned by your respective villages, and if they find out you are alive the-"

Tayuya interrupted, "What do you mean? Why would anyone think we are dead?" Itachi's eyes widened slightly.

"So... You left before the incident... Interesting..." This time it was Naruto who interrupted.

"What incident?" Kisame answered

"It must have been mere hours after you left your village, the villagers burned your house to the ground, and attempted to kill anyone they deemed of being 'Demon Lovers'. There were no real ninja in this mob, so they were unable to" Naruto's eyes widened.

"That means... How many people were killed?" Itachi stepped in front of Naruto.

"A few mobbers, and a ramen stand was burned down..." Naruto stopped breathing.

"Was... Did anybody die?" Itachi shook his head.

"Tsunade had received information on the mobs creation, and evacuated anyone who could have fit the criteria of a 'Demon Lover'" Naruto nodded.

"Sounds like Baachan all right... Well, what do you think about this, Fenikkusueiyo?" The aforementioned Phoenix cocked his head to the side.

"**They mean no harm, and their story makes sense. Otherwise, I would have wondered what Isonade was doing, allowing his subordinate to join his enemies, and along with the Chakra Devourer, Samehada.**" Kisame's eyes widened.

"A-a b-but how?" The Phoenix shook its head.

"**Have you looked in a mirror recently? Anyway, I'm off. But before I go...**" A stream of condensed fire shot from the beak of the Phoenix. The flames split into two streams, before impacting both Naruto's and Tayuya's right arms. The flames seemed to create a design, and the small group watched in a morbid fascination as the flames turned into tattoos of a phoenix. Naruto and Tayuya were both knocked unconscious as the flames finished the design, and disappeared

"**Those are chakra batteries, they can only be used for summoning Phoenix Clan members, and Phoenix Fire techniques. Tell those two this once they wake.**" With that, the fire bird disappeared in an implosion of heat and fire. Kisame kicked Naruto's unconscious form.

"Dammit... Now we have to carry them all the way to Kumori... Itachi?" Itachi was already summoning a crow.

"Come Kisame... We should be there by nightfall. Bring the two of them, and place them on the crow." Kisame did so, but grumbled something about lazy partners under his breath. After all was secured in place, the crow took off with a quick word from Itachi. They were followed by a small Phoenix, and left one Uchiha lying face down in a pile of mud.

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Naruto awoke like he always did, his senses slowly sending him information, until they caught up to his brain. He opened his eyes, and surveyed his surroundings. He was in a rather large apartment, and one that appeared to have multiple rooms. He attempted to get off of the couch he was lying on, before he realized that he was being pinned down by something that seemed to cover his entire body. He looked down without moving to see... Tayuya. With her head on his chest and arms wrapped around him, she was pinning him to the couch. Fortunately, Naruto could still use his hands, so he made a Kage Bunshin, and Kawarmied with it so that he could look for a window. He soon found one, and looked out into a large town. The town appeared to be mostly hidden by the shadow of the overhanging cliff, but since it was daylight, Naruto could easily view the village in all of its grandeur.

Most, if not all of the buildings had black or navy blue roofs. From Naruto's perspective, he was completely surrounded by a city, with roads and pathways that stretched like a spiders threads, out into the horizon.

"I had the same look on my face when I first looked out on the town as well." Naruto whirled around.

"Who said that?" From the shadows, a figure took a step out into the light streaming from the window. Naruto's eyes widened slightly.

"Itachi." Itachi nodded.

"Yes, Naruto. You see, this is a village that has become populated from outcasts, mostly Kekkei Genkai holders from Kiri; we accepted no one who had committed crimes." Naruto raised his eyebrow at this.

"You killed an entire clan, and they accepted you? What do these people deem as a crime?" Itachi smiled, a sight which looked strangely out of place on the usually emotionless face.

"In all actuality, Naruto, I only killed ten people of the Uchiha clan. The Clan Elders, Shisui, and Fugaku. I let Sasuke go because I had already used Tsukiyomi to implant images of the entire clans slaughter. In fact, most of the remainder of the Uchiha clan live in this very building." Naruto was about to speak, when someone interrupted him.

"NARUTO! WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING YOU SHITHEAD?" Itachi and Naruto winced simultaneously. Itachi wiggled his finger inside his ear.

"You sure picked a loud girlfriend, didn't you." Naruto shrugged helplessly, before the meaning of the sentence made it into his mind.

Naruto tried to speak, "She's not... We're not... It's... GAAAHHH! SCREW YOU ITACHI!!" Itachi cackled maniacally.

"You two have seven days to get settled here, and no, Naruto, there is no more room in this apartment complex, so you two will be living together," Itachi began to laugh again, but quickly silenced himself, "You two are to be tested on your abilities, and then placed on a genin team. Since Konoha is the closest village, you two will participate in the Chuunin exams, along with a third member. You three, while genin ranked, have already proven yourselves to be at a much higher skill level." Itachi walked towards the door beside the windows. "You three, will be expected to work as a team, therefore, you will share all of your skills, fighting styles, and specialties. While you are in Konoha, for safety reasons, you two will change your appearance, and go by code names. Naruto is to be codename Byakko, and Tayuya will be Sanoni. Your third member's name is Kuro. He was found by the Ikikage, and was shown to have a chakra bloodline. You will learn about his bloodline when you three meet." Tayuya suddenly barged into the room, surprising both ninja.

"What the hell do you mean by chakra bloodline, emo-shit?" Itachi stood, slightly stunned for a second by Tayuya's choice of words. He quickly shook his head and chuckled.

"Tayuya-san, while there are many bloodlines in the world, they can all be classified into three categories. Eye Techniques, Body Techniques, and Chakra Techniques (A/N If anyone can get me the translations for those last two, that'd be great. I didn't change Doujutsu for Eye Techniques, because it would be too different to switch between Japanese and English for them). A few examples of eye techniques would be my Sharingan, and the Byakugan of Konoha. A Body Technique, would be what your former comrade, Kaguya Kimmimaro, utilized. The Chakra Techniques would have been Mokuton, Hyouton, or in Kuro's case, Youso Koutai. Anyways, you two lovebirds have fun!" Itachi Shunshined out of the apartment, barely disappearing in time to dodge a hail of shuriken that embedded themselves on the door.

Naruto shook his head. '_Why do people always go for the door, and then not use it?_' He noticed Tayuya looking at him strangely. "What?" Tayuya looked away.

"First thing's first. We are getting ninja clothing." Naruto grinned.

"I wonder if they have anything in orange..." TWACK. "OWOOOOW, Tayuya!! What was that for?"

Tayuya was standing over Naruto, holding a shoe in her hand. "You will not be wearing orange as a ninja. It is not a ninja colour, it is a 'Kill Me Now' sign on a dopey kid. You will NOT BE WEARING ORANGE!! DO WE HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING?" Naruto gulped.

"Yes, Tayuya." Tayuya smiled.

"Good. Now let's go get some clothes." Naruto ducked out of the door right after Tayuya.

"We also have to learn Shunshin." Tayuya nodded in agreement as she walked down the underpopulated street.

"I agree. It would greatly improve our travel time." Naruto smiled.

"I just think it's cool." Tayuya sweat dropped.

"Dumbass shithead blonde..." Tayuya muttered, "Here's a clothing store Naruto. Let's see what we got."

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"Naruto, get the fuck out here!" Tayuya banged on the door to the dressing room. The two had visited just about every store in Kumori, before she realized that Naruto was still aiming for something orange. While they had refilled their kunai and shuriken stocks, both had realized that they should change their styles slightly. Tayuya and Naruto both purchased an O-Katana. Tayuya had realized that she depended too much on her Doki and Genjutsu, and sometimes they didn't quite cut it, as the lazy Konoha nin had proven to her. Naruto had gotten one, because, in deciding to learn kenjutsu, he would further confuse anyone who was looking for him. Tayuya had to admit, however grudgingly, that Naruto wasn't as stupid as most gave him credit for. Unless it came to his precious orange.

"I don't want to come out, I feel weird!" Tayuya sighed, and bashed her head on the door.

"Just because it doesn't have orange on it doesn't mean it's not good. It's actually the opposite." Tayuya took a step back as the change room door unlocked.

"All right Tayuya, I'm coming out, but I'm warning you... It won't be pretty." Naruto stepped out from behind the door, making Tayuya go slack jawed at his transformation. While Naruto had never been good looking, she had never really believed it to be the fault of the hideous orange jumpsuit that he wore, but standing right in front of her was undeniable proof of that fact. Naruto was dressed in a black leather duster, which had metal plates sewn in certain places, to protect the vital organs. Underneath the duster, he was wearing a tight black shirt, which had fishnet sleeves going down to his elbows. He had also put on fingerless gloves to compliment his O-Katana; the gloves had one blade each that sprang out when chakra was run through them. When they were not in combat mode, the tips of the blades simply looked like a plate of metal on the back of his glove. His pants, which had changed into a dark green colour, had hundreds of pockets, just about everywhere you could think of. Naruto was also sporting black combat boots, with metal plates placed inside the soles as well as the toes.

Naruto was fidgeting nervously under Tayuya's scrutinizing stare, unconsciously fingering the O-Katana strapped to his back. "Well? How is it? Tayuya? Tayuuuyaaaa?" Naruto was waving his fingers in front of her face. He gave up trying to get her attention, and started poking her in the forehead repeatedly. She snapped out of her daze almost instantly, grabbing his hand as he went to poke her again.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Tayuya hissed, tightening her grip on his hand, crushing it into submission. Naruto was about to answer when the old woman who ran the clothing store came past. She looked at the two nin and smiled.

"You two really do make a sweet couple you know that? There aren't many ninja who would go around holding hands in public, you know." She ambled past Naruto and Tayuya, humming to herself. Naruto and Tayuya began blushing. Tayuya seemed to realize that she was still holding his hand, and immediately let go as if she was burned.

"I-I'll see you later, s-shithead." She mumbled as she ran out of the store faster than Hiraishin. Naruto could only stand there looking stunned. Then a dopey smile made its way onto his face. '_She is pretty cute. It's too bad I can't tell her that without being pounded._' Naruto walked out of the store, the smile still on his face. '_I suppose I should train before I finish up for the day._'

Tayuya was sprinting down the street, dodging random people who stood in her way. She was only doing this subconsciously, her mind was more focused on what was happening to her. 'W_hat the hell is going on? I'm not supposed to get embarrassed, I'm supposed to be the one embarrassing him! So why the hell do I get so... Disoriented around him?_' Tayuya turned a corner, and began jumping up the stairs towards her apartment. '_Naruto's and my apartment._' She reminded herself. '_With only one bed. Ugh. This is not going to be fucking fun... Although waking up in his arms felt pretty nice... FUUUCK! I'm starting to... to... Like him. DAMMIT_' Tayuya slammed the door to the apartment and moved for the bed. '_I think I'll sleep on it. I'll feel better in the morning._'

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Duh duh duh!!

In the next chapter, there might be some NaruTayu fluff, although if anyone thinks that I am changing anyone's character too much, then I apologize. After all, I did only get 67 in English class. Besides, I don't know romance, Which reminds me!! I NEED A BETA READER!! Pm me to apply. I need someone who is good at fluff scenes, and who I can bounce ideas off of. Thank you for reading, I shall update weekly.

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	4. Return to Konoha!

Alright, chapter four of: Loss of a Demon, Loss of a Hero. The chapters should be getting a bit longer, now that it is summer. More time to work on the chapters, you see. Thanks goes out to all reviewers, and especially Djinn Crimsora for being my Beta.

_GOD DAMMIT!_

_What is it, sir?_

_I don't own Sasuke! I mean Naruto... Right?_

_Indeed... Indeed._

**Loss of a Demon, Loss of a Hero**

**Chapter Four**

_**Inazuma Tate**_

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The wind blew down the crowded streets of Konoha; ruffling clothes and hair as it passed. The civilians were everywhere, and they were joined by several ninja. The celebrations were just beginning, for it was the two year anniversary of the day that the Kyuubi had finally been killed. As it turned out, he had been harboring a Sound kunoichi, and in the minds of many, this proved that the demon did indeed betray Konoha, and attempt to send the last Uchiha straight into the clutches of the Hebi-Sannin. There were two celebrations that surrounded the Kyuubi no Kitsune One for his containment, and one for his death in the apartment fire that a mob had caused, finally getting rid of the demon, and his whore that he had been associating with. At least, this is what was on the posters that people put up, surrounding the days moving up to the day Naruto had died.

Sakura snorted in disgust as she walked past the remainder of the Rookie 9. '_I can't understand why they still stand up for that bastard. He attacked a Konoha nin, and Sasuke-kun at that! What gives them the right to treat me like trash! All I did was arrange the deaths of Naruto and the Sound whore_' Sakura was forced to stop as several children ran in front of her, delighting in the days festivities. A hand was placed on her shoulder, and as she turned she looked into the eyes of a man in his mid twenties.

"Miss... You wouldn't happen to be the famous Sakura-sama, would you?" Sakura smiled, and turned her nose up arrogantly.

"Yes, that would be me. Have you come to give me something for arranging the deaths of the demon and his whore?" The man snickered softly.

"Yes... I have." The man leaned up until his mouth was at Sakura's ear. "Naruto and Tayuya say, and I quote: Watch your back, bitch. Cause we're coming for you, and the bastard Uchiha." Sakura's eyes widened and she jumped back.

"You... Who the hell are you?" The man simply looked up at the Hokage monument.. Sakura followed his gaze to see... Sasuke strung off the nose of the Shodaime in nothing but a fluffy pink tutu. Sakura screeched and cocked her fist, fully prepared to hit the man for embarrassing her Sasuke-kun like that, before she realized that he was long gone, however, a whisper of his voice made it back to her.

"Enjoy the upcoming Chuunin exams, bitch."

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Naruto shook his head in disbelief at his teammate, Kuro, who had just finished telling him and Tayuya about his little infiltration of Konoha and subsequent pranking of Sasuke. He didn't have anything to say other than curse words, and how stupid he had been. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your point of view, Tayuya felt no compulsion to keep quiet.

"YOU FUCKING IDIOT!! WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU TELL THAT PSYCHO BITCH THAT WE ARE STILL ALIVE?" Kuro chuckled softly.

"Because no one of consequence will believe her. Those who hate Naruto, and by proxy you, will not want to believe that either of you could still be alive, the only one who would believe her, would be the Godaime, and those whom she wishes to tell." Tayuya grabbed his ANBU style shirt and attempted to pick him up, failing miserably, because he was easily half a head taller than her.

"AND WHAT THE HELL MADE YOU THINK THAT YOU COULD GET AWAY WITH IT?" Tayuya pulled her fist back for a punch. Kuro quickly put his hand in his vest pocket, and pulled out two small squares of paper.

"I got you guys pictures." A few seconds passed, then Naruto and Tayuya lunged forwards, Tayuya dropping Kuro in an attempt to snatch the photos away from him. The two of them managed to grab the pictures from his hands before he hit the ground. Naruto took great care in studying the picture, but Tayuya's words summed it up best.

"That's fucking hilarious." Naruto chuckled.

"You still have the negatives? I'm sure Itachi would love to have this the next time Sasuke tries to kill him." Kuro nodded.

"I gave him a photo before I got here." Naruto laughed.

"Thanks Kuro, that just made my day." Kuro stood up and yawned.

"Good to know. Anyway, I'll see you two lovebirds later, I have to get back to my place before Oyone-chan does something... Unfortunate." Naruto chuckled.

"You and your damn girlfriend troubles." Kuro grinned.

"Yeah... But I suppose I'm lucky that my girlfriend doesn't swear as much as yours." Kuro quickly shunshined out of the apartment, just avoiding the two volleys of thrown projectiles. Tayuya stood up, making her way towards the bathroom while mumbling about bastards making something from nothing. Naruto closed his eyes and lied back on the sofa, remembering the first time that Team Kickass, as Kuro quickly dubbed it, had met.

_Flashback_

_Naruto and Tayuya were being dragged by Itachi to the training grounds, where they would meet the third member of their squad, Kuro Shin. Apparently, Kuro was a Taijutsu specialist, and his bloodline allowed him to take his skills to a whole new level once it activated. Right now, however, Naruto and Tayuya were being forced to listen to the ranking system of their new home._

"_Now, in this village. We take quality over quantity. For example, an average Genin from Kumorigakure could take on a Konoha Chuunin and easily outmatch them. A Chuunin would give Konoha's ANBU Lieutenants a run for their money, and a Jounin... Well, I am a slightly above average Jounin class ninja of Kumorigakure." Naruto choked._

"_But you're an S ranked ninja! You're Kage level! What the hell?" Itachi smiled wanly._

"_Yes, people tend to be much more powerful here than most other hidden villages." Tayuya spoke up._

"_What makes this village so different?" Itachi smiled again, and began dragging the two towards the training grounds once again._

"_There are several reasons for our... Increased ninja capabilities. For one thing, we do not have such things as Clan Jutsu's or the Academy Taijutsu. There are a few exceptions with the Clan Jutsu, such as skills that augment bloodline traits, or something that someone creates themselves. As soon as a student becomes genin, we train them in a style of Taijutsu that best fits their strengths, and covers their weaknesses. We also have them learn their affinities, and then teach them the appropriate jutsu. A main point of difference between the academy of Konoha, and our academy, is that our academy is also renowned within the village for never giving out paper tests. Knowing how old the Shodaime was when he died will not protect you in battle. Our academy graduating test, is split into four parts, Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and any specialties that the student may have. Not only is our graduating rate higher than every other academy out there, but as soon as a ninja gains a higher rank, then that ninja is given two months of leave to practice, and learn. Just remember, just because you may have been a genin by Konoha's standards, doesn't mean that you will make it here." Naruto spoke up, slightly nervous of the fact that he could have to repeat the academy._

"_What happens if we don't meet those standards?" Itachi turned, and gave a sadistic grin._

"_I will be personally training you for two years, before you enter the Chuunin exams. You will be at my standards, or you will die. Oh, we're here." Naruto and Tayuya began sweating nervously at the threat of death by training. "Oh, one more thing before I go... Kuro has no tact." Itachi then disappeared. Tayuya turned to Naruto._

"_What the fuck did he mean by that?" All of a sudden a teenager with spiky black hair and a scar that ran from his jawline and up to his cheekbones, popped out from out of nowhere. He landed right between Naruto and Tayuya. He blinked at them owlishly._

"_How long have you two been dating?" Naruto and Tayuya flinched._

"_What the hell are you talking about you fucker?" Kuro turned towards Naruto._

"_Are you really that short, or is it a Genjutsu?" Naruto growled. Tayuya and Naruto shouted together before pummeling Kuro to a pulp._

"_I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"_

_Flashback End_

Naruto shifted slightly as Tayuya exited the bathroom, expecting some halfhearted verbal abuse from the fiery redhead. Naruto was pleasantly surprised when she just sat down at the far end of the sofa. Naruto lifted himself up into a sitting position beside Tayuya.

"What's up, Tayu-chan?" Tayuya grunted.

"Don't call me that." Naruto chuckled as he poked her in the shoulder.

"Tell me why there has been a serious lack of swearing at me today?" Tayuya huffed, and leaned against Naruto, who was extremely surprised by her nonviolent actions. '_Something must really be bugging her, she only acts this quiet when she's asleep, or thinking about something._'

"I don't want to take any chances." Now Naruto was really confused.

"Chances with what?" Tayuya mumbled something and then turned away. "Come on... Tell me." Tayuya sighed.

"Fine, fine. You want the truth?" Naruto nodded, "Alright, the truth is that... Well... You are my only friend. I don't want to mess that up. If I insult you, you may start to hate me." Naruto put an arm around her shoulders.

"Not gonna happen. I didn't have many friends growing up, mostly because I acted really annoying, so that the only people who would associate themselves with me would be true friends. I learned long ago to always look a gift horse in the mouth, no matter how innocent it may seem." Tayuya glanced up at Naruto's face.

"What the hell happened to you to do something like that just to protect yourself?" Naruto sighed and put his head in his other hand_._

"Well, I was an orphan of the Kyuubi attack, and so I was placed inside an orphanage. All of the caretakers were really nasty towards me, but the matron was nice, and kept trying to get people to adopt me. Finally, one day she succeeded, and an elderly couple adopted me. I was happy for about a week. You see, that couple's children had all died in the Kyuubi attack, and believed that I was the Kyuubi incarnate. So, after I got comfortable, and let down my guard, they put poison in my tea." Tayuya gasped, horrified that people would do something like that to a child. She knew that he had a crappy childhood, but that was a little extreme. "I survived thanks to the Kyuubi, but that in itself seemed to prove to the villagers that I was the Kyuubi. In their minds, it was the only way I could have survived. It's kind of strange, if I had died, the couple would have been viewed as heroes for killing the Kyuubi, but since I survived, I was Kyuubi." Tayuya snarled.

"Those bastards... Are we going to kill them?" Naruto looked at her, half amused, and half afraid.

"If I attack the villagers, I would become what they believed I was. I will not become a self-fulfilling prophecy... Did you say we?" Tayuya answered with a grin.

"Hells yeah, friends should stick together." Naruto smiled.

"Thanks, Tayuya. You want to go out for some ramen?" Tayuya laughed, and mock punched the blonde boy.

"I'll go out with you, but NO GODDAMN RAMEN! Got it?" Naruto nodded and stood up.

"It's a date." Tayuya began to sputter uncontrollably.

"WHAT?" Naruto had his foxlike grin plastered on his face as he walked towards the door, after snagging his wallet.

"Did I stutter? Come on Tayuya-chan, we are going on a date. You pick the place, and we'll go out tomorrow." Naruto then vanished, leaving a distraught, confused, and ecstatic kunoichi to ponder on her attire for the date.

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"At last... They are together... My plan is now in motion... This is just the beginning... kukukukukuku... KUKUKUKU," THWACK, "YEOW!! Dammit, that hurt!!" THWACK. "OWOOW!!"

"Shut up and go back to sleep, Kuro, or I'll hit you again"

"Yes, Oyone-chan, just put down the sword." '_Finally they're getting together... I thought I'd end up tying them together for an entire day before they went out... Oh yeah... I already did that last week... Dammit._'

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Tsunade was pissed. Dangerously pissed. As soon as the council figured out that Naruto had not been killed in the 'Accident', they wanted to send Hunter nin after him. Needless to say, Tsunade was pissed.

"You have no right to send Hunter nins after Naruto! He is not a shinobi of the Leaf!" A civilian council member began shouting.

"We cannot let that... Thing, continue to live! It must be killed before it returns to finish what it started 16 years ago!" Tsunade slammed her fist down on the desk in front of her.

"That... Thing... as you call him, was once a shinobi of this village, and an extremely loyal one at that. I want you to give me one solid reason why we should send Hunter nin after him, when he has done nothing to provoke us for over two years!" A pink haired woman from the civilian side of the council stood.

"Hokage-sama, with all due respect, the demon has obviously tricked you into thinking that it will not come back. Uzumaki Naruto might have become a great ninja, but that child died the moment the Yondaime placed the Kyuubi no Kitsune inside of him. Therefore, he is a danger to this village, and must be treated as such." Tsunade lost her temper.

"GOD DAMMIT YOU IDIOTS!... You idiots... What happened to Sasuke when he attempted to go missing nin? He was brought back, kicking and screaming, and several fine ninja nearly lost their lives to save one spoiled brat! You stripped Naruto of his rank for attacking someone of clan status, but through Sasuke's actions alone, many clan heirs nearly lost their lives. Why is Sasuke still a shinobi if he has committed such crimes?" Tsunade sat down, emotionally drained.

"Hokage-sama, Sasuke-kun was under the influence of the curse seal, and we have tangible proof that this seals effects were fueled by the demon's chakra." Tsunade stood.

"And where is this proof? I would like very much to prove that it is indeed authentic." One of the assembled council members stepped forwards and placed a folder in front of Tsunade. The council member quickly made his way back to the safety of his seat, as Tsunade opened the folder and began to review its contents. Mere moments after reading the first page, Tsunade's eyes bulged. There it was, Actual evidence that the Kyuubi's chakra corrupted Sasuke's mind. Tsunade's eyes narrowed. '_Wait a moment... This theory only applies if Naruto continually released the Kyuubi's chakra directly into the seal. Even then, it would only give Sasuke more power with which to fight the curse seal... Who in the hell wrote up this report?_' As Tsunade's eyes reached the bottom of the page, she let out a small yelp and dropped the paper.

The pink haired woman stood up once again. "As you can see, Hokage-sama, we were telling the truth-"

"Bullshit." The pink haired woman blinked.

"Excuse me, Hokage-sama, but you cannot dispute those findings, we had a medic-nin work tirelessly to get those results." Tsunade's eyes narrowed.

"These findings are falsified. The Kyuubi's chakra would not affect Sasuke's judgment... But you already knew that, didn't you... Sakura." Sakura smiled.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about, Hokage-sama, I found those results myself. You see, for some reason, all of the med-nins that you trained seemed to have a tough time finding the truth. Why is that, Hokage-sama?" Tsunade growled.

"I taught them to be impartial, Sakura. That is why I never taught you. You are not a true ninja, you seem to think that ninja's can't die until they fall in love, and have their happily ever after! Those are not the things a ninja believes, Sakura! Those are the things that an emotionally immature girl believes." Sakura matched tho Hokage's furious gaze with one of her own.

"I was the best candidate for you apprenticeship!! But you refused to teach me, and continue to refuse me, even though I have the entire civilian council supporting me! You just can't get over the fact that I was right, and that Naruto was a demon, so you keep denying me power to help Sasuke-kun!" Tsunade slammed both her fists down on the desk in front of her, obliterating it and sending shards of wood everywhere.

"That's it!! This council meeting is over! The civilian council will leave now! The Shinobi council and I have important issues to discuss." Tsunade glared at Sakura, as though daring her to speak out against her. Sakura looked away, and left along with the rest of the civilian council members.

"So then... It is our turn to host the Chuunin exams once again." Tsunade nodded.

"That is correct, Tsume. However, we have a new hidden village that wishes to participate in them." There were some disgruntled murmurs as several shinobi recounted the Sand/Sound invasion. "Rest assured, they have sent a diplomatic envoy to ensure that their intentions will cause no harm to us or our shinobi." Hyuuga Hiashi coughed lightly.

"If I may, Hokage-sama... Who are they sending on this envoy?" Tsunade grimaced slightly.

"I'm not sure, although Kumori has said they are sending their best genin team here for the Chuunin exams." Hiashi's eyebrows rose slightly.

"They are sending only one team? Surely they cannot be that arrogant?" Tsunade smiled wryly.

"Kumori's standards are... Exceptional. Ninja are only given the opportunity to take the Chuunin exams when they are deemed ready by the Ikikage herself." Hiashi's eyebrows rose even further.

"Why would she do that?" Tsunade chuckled softly.

"All of their Chuunin, and any high level genin that would be taking the Chuunin exams, would easily be able to dispatch any one of our Jounin." There were several shouts of protest.

"Surely that cannot be possible? They would just be genin or Chuunin! There's no way that any of them could take on a Konoha Jounin and win!" Tsunade shook her head.

"I'll give you a hint as to their power. Their weakest Jounin is low S-rank. The Ikikage is SS-rank" Silence spread through the room.

"Oh shit... We are so boned."

"It would appear so, Tsume."

"Shut up, Shibi."

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"Dammit... Dammit... DAMMIT!!"

"Well well, Naruto, It looks like your girlfriend's colourful use of language is rubbing off on you."

"Shut up Itachi... Just... Shut up." Itachi cackled maniacally, before composing himself. It wouldn't do to have people thinking he was insane. Not that he wasn't insane, it was just better if people never found out.

Tayuya grabbed Naruto's hand, and entwined her fingers with his. "So, Naruto, how does it feel to finally come back to this shithole." Naruto chuckled at his girlfriends blunt approach.

"Well, it ought to be better since the won't recognize me." This was true. Before beginning the journey to Konoha's Chuunin exams, Naruto had been forced to dye his hair black.

"You aren't still upset about that, are you?" Naruto's eye twitched.

"No, Kuro. I like having black hair. I like looking like an emo bastard. It builds character and strong bones." Kuro grinned.

"Glad you like it. Good idea with the mask, by the way, your whisker marks are a little too..."

"Noticeable?"

"Yeah."

"Aw, come on, those things made blondie putty in my hands!" Naruto's eye twitched violently.

"Typical Tayuya, using the power of the whisker marks for seduction. Although, I have to admit, seeing the dumb one over here purr like a small kitten was priceless." Tayuya laughed.

"I agree. Although the mask makes him look like that one guy from the bingo book... Kakashi? Except with black hair." Kuro nodded.

"True, but at least Naruto's hair obeys the laws of physics. Kakashi's hair is just... Impossible." Tayuya laughed again. Naruto got a twinkle in his eye that promised pain or embarrassment.

"Tayuya-chan, You should laugh more often. It sounds beautiful!" Tayuya turned a bright red colour that was previously unknown to man. Naruto began laughing. Tayuya just slugged him in the arm.

"Bastard... You'll pay for embarrassing me like that." Kuro shook his head.

"You two are perfect together... Even if it did take you guys two entire years to finally hook up. You two never did tell me how that date you guys went on last month went..." Naruto answered him.

"It went horribly. People kept telling us how cute a couple we were, how beautiful Tayuya was, how lucky I was... It was so sweet I actually retched." Tayuya smirked.

"What do you mean by, how beautiful I _was_?" Naruto stammered.

"I-I u-uh... I'll race you to Konoha! See you guys later!" Naruto took off at full speed down the dirt road only to slam headfirst into a large wooden gate a few moments later. Itachi was the first to speak.

"You win, Naruto."

"Damn you sensei... Damn you to hell." The group had agreed to address Itachi only as sensei while they were in Konoha for obvious reasons.

Two Chuunin heard Naruto's impact on the gate, and peered out from behind their respective guard stations.

"Are you the convoy from Kumorigakure?" Itachi nodded.

"Alright, come on in and let's get the paperwork out of the way.

Several minutes later, Team Kickass was treading quickly towards the apartment complex where they would be staying at for the duration of the Chuunin exams. They were doing their best to avoid any unwanted attention, but the stares and whispers seemed to follow them everywhere.

"Did you see them?"

"Yeah, those three are supposed to be able to take on A-rank ninjas by themselves!"

"They might be able to, but I bet they can't beat Sasuke!"

"No shit! Sasuke is the best ninja in the Elemental countries bar none! He's gonna be the next Hokage for sure!"

"For sure." Naruto shook his head in disgust. '_Those dumbass villagers... Sasuke isn't even a B-ranked ninja and they seem to think he can take on the world, and win with little difficulty. I wonder why he stayed? I assumed he would have left again as soon as he could walk._' Naruto's internal musings were interrupted as he sensed several chakra signatures heading his team's way. Naruto glanced at both his teammates. The expressions they wore showed that they felt the ninja's coming too. Soon the chakra signatures were close enough for Naruto to identify the signatures.

"Dammit," Naruto hissed, "One of those ninja coming this way is Sasuke! I think Sakura and Kakashi are with him!" Itachi nodded tersely.

"I will take my leave now, and remember. Give them hell." Kuro saluted.

"Will do!" Itachi shunshined away as three ninja landed in front of Naruto and his team. The foremost ninja was...

"Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke grinned.

"So, even in Kumorigakure you have heard of my power... Tell me your name!" Naruto grimaced.

"My name is Byakko. The redhead beside me is Sanoni, and the guy holding the warhammer to your neck is Kuro Shin." Sasuke's eyes widened. '_What? How could he have gotten past my guard? I am the best there is!_' Sasuke smirked.

"Fight me." Kuro sweatdropped. '_Damn... This is exactly what Naruto said would happen._' Kuro sheathed his sword and scratched his chin.

"I don't know... I'm pretty tired... I may just go have a nap..." Sasuke's eyes formed the Sharingan.

"Dammit! Fight me! I will show you my power!" Kuro sweatdropped again. '_This guy... Is quite unoriginal... And repetitive. And what's that annoying screeching sound right in my ear?_'

"Are you gonna fight Sasuke-kun? Or have they heard about Sasuke-kun's legendary strength all the way in Kumorigakure? Or have you realized that you are no match for Sasuke's awesomeness?" Tayuya sighed in exasperation.

"Dammit you screechy bitch! Just fucking shut up already!" Sakura immediately quieted down, but not without sending an icy glare directed towards Tayuya.

"Please, Sanoni, you have no idea of our team's power, I could easily crush you." Tayuya twitched. Naruto sighed and put his head in his hands.

"You two... go ahead." Kuro and Tayuya looked at Naruto.

"Really Byakko?" Naruto nodded.

"Well, Sasuke, you've got your fight. Now, could we take this battle to a more suitable location?" Sasuke hnned at Kuro and started walking off. Team Kickass followed, while being tortured with screeches detailing every bit of Sasuke's awesomeness.

"Sasuke-kun is so awesome isn't he? He's so strong too, I mean, he beat a Jinchuuriki almost three years ago during our last Chuunin exams!" Naruto blinked.

"I was under the impression that Sabaku no Gaara was defeated by one Uzumaki Naruto." Sakura snorted.

"Please, everyone knows that the demon implanted the memories of him defeating Gaara into everyone who saw the battle!" Naruto twitched. Suddenly, Sakura leveled a cold glare at Tayuya.

"I know what you're thinking, slut!" Tayuya jumped slightly at the loudness of her voice.

"And what is it that I'm thinking?" Sakura shook her head.

"You want to get into my Sasuke-kun's pants! I can see it in your eyes!!" Tayuya stared for a few moments, before composing herself.

"Why in the hell would I want to have sex with a man that either has no penis, or is gay? Maybe even both?" Tayuya seemed oblivious to Sakura's quickly reddening face. "Besides, I already have a boyfriend, and he is way better than Sasuke. Byakko here isn't a psychotic traitor." At this, Sakura blew up.

"Sasuke-kun is not a traitor! The demon bastard drove him away from Konoha when he messed with his mind! That's why after he left, Sasuke-kun didn't try to leave again!" Sakura would have continued, but she was interrupted by Sasuke.

"We're here. Now, you will face the might of the Uchiha clan!" Kuro hung his head. '_Egotistical __bastard... I wonder if there's any desserts at the hotel? Mmmmmmm, chocolate._' Kuro shook himself out of his daze.

"Come on, you banshee bitch, let's see what you got!" Tayuya ran to the center of the sparring arena, and started bouncing off of each foot in a vain attempt to quell her excitement. Sakura sneered as she took her place opposite Tayuya. Naruto jumped between the two girls.

"You both know the rules, no killing, stop when I say so, and... Hajime!" Naruto leapt out of the arena as the battle commenced. Sakura took the basic academy Taijutsu stance.

"You have no chance against me. I trained with Sasuke-kun!" Tayuya sweatdropped.

"And..."

"And what? I trained with Sasuke-kun!" Tayuya shook her head.

"So what? That doesn't mean anything!" Sakura seemed confused.

"B-but, I trained with Sasuke-ku-URK" Sakura was interrupted when Tayuya launched a quick punch to the pink haired girls gut. Tayuya watched as Sakura fell to the ground, wheezing and coughing. Tayuya shook her head.

"Kunoichi like you give us real kunoichi a bad name, you know that? You can't always hide behind your teammates, because they can't protect you forever. How are you still alive?" Sakura said nothing, only continuing to breathe weak, raspy breaths. Sasuke was almost instantly dragging Sakura to the outside of the ring, evidently in a hurry to start his match. Soon, the two combatants were ready, and Naruto quickly reviewed the rules once again.

"No killing, stop when I call the match, and... Hajime!" Naruto quickly jumped back to observe the match.

Sasuke quickly formed hand seals, and sent a fireball flying towards Kuro. As the fireball impacted, nothing was left on the earth but scorch marks. Sasuke smirked.

"He should have known better than to fight an Uchiha!"

"Well, I am pretty stubborn." Sasuke's eyes widened, as he felt a cold steel blade against his neck.

"What? That's impossible! My Sharingan can-"

"See through Nin and Genjutsu, I know, but you seem to forget that that fireball you tried to hit me with blocked your vision of me." Kuro sheathed his sword and walked towards the edge of the arena. "Uchiha... You seem to think that a jutsu can only be powerful if it's a flashy technique. You are wrong. While this could have escalated into a full blown Ninjutsu match if I had blocked your fireball, it was much easier to just avoid your jutsu completely, and catch you off guard. If you are the most powerful shinobi of the leaf, then the leaf is screwed." Sasuke made a few hurried handsigns as he rushed Kuro, attempting to blindside him.

"CHIDORI!!" Sasuke plunged his lightning-covered fist into Kuro's back, piercing all the way through to his heart. Sasuke smirked.

"Never turn your back on an enemy." Surprisingly enough, the only ones who seemed shocked at Sasuke's actions was the audience that the short battle had gathered. Sasuke continued to smirk, until Kuro turned into mud.

"What the hell?" CRUNCH! Sasuke hit the ground hard with a swift tap from Kuro's warhammer. Kuro shook his head.

"Bastard's got no sense of when a match is over. He just thinks about winning, whatever the cost." Kuro, Naruto, and Tayuya shunshined to the hotel.

Kuro looked at Naruto and Tayuya.

"I hope Tayuya isn't a screamer, My room is right next to yours." Tayuya and Naruto both had twitching eyes.

BOOM!! Kuro was sent flying backwards, into his room, while somehow slamming the door as he passed through.

Naruto groaned as he fell back on the bed. Tayuya sat down beside him, and snuggled into his side.

"What's wrong?"

"The council is going to be on our asses for beating up the Uchiha."

"Worry later, sleep now."

"Yes Tayuya-hime."

"...Jackass..."

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Well? Loved, hated it, want to hunt me down and shoot me? Review!

Anyway, I got a couple complaints about some oocness. On Sasuke's part. Anyway, the way I see it, Sasuke only saw Naruto as a stepping stone to gain more power, but as soon as Sasuke gained the Sharingan, he believed himself to be invincible. So, when Naruto beat Sasuke up, and dragged him back to Konoha

Oh, and if you think that the NaruTayu stuff is happening too fast, don't worry. There will be flashback sequences. Anyway, I have the latest stats for my story!


	5. The Council is Split!

I am truly sorry about the inexcusable lateness of this chapter, and I know that many people who enjoyed my story have left, and for that I apologize. Now, I have been writing another story in my spare time, just because I was, admittedly, ashamed of the way this story has turned out. I am not going to make any promises, other than the promise that I will finish this story. I currently have a job, and am saving up to buy a laptop for my personal use, seeing as right now I use an incredibly slow computer from nearly ten years ago. I also will be taking a break from writing the next chapter of this story (not nearly as long as this break) so that I can get a full plot written out on paper. I must say, you can tell the difference between the stories that are written on impulse (this story was one of them) and those stories that have a well thought out plotline that the author adheres to. Most likely, I will revamp the earlier chapters, and possibly add a new one in to cover the timeskip. It is also my intent to flesh out the relationship between Naruto and Tayuya, and perhaps not make Kuro into a "Mary Sue" type character, which I truthfully have. He came out of nowhere, and has become an essential part of the story. I would remove him from the story... But it's just so much fun to (essentially) have someone with my personality (and foul language) in the story. Now that I think about it, it seems almost like a self-insertion fic, but differs in the fact that Kuro is not my name, and that I am _not_ a martial artist. Kuro will simply have my personality, so that you can get some cheap laughs at the witty diatribe that I will write. My enemies call me a smart-ass. My friends call me a wise-ass. Now you know why I'm so cynical.

Alright, onto the story!! Before you go, know that even when there hasn't been an update in god knows how long, I am still active on . Email me with your thoughts on my story, the future stories posted on my profile, and even ideas on any stories you might have.

_What good is Information,_

_when one lacks the understanding,_

_to turn the Information into Knowledge?_

_-_

_Self_

**Loss of a Demon, Loss of a Hero**

**Chapter 5**

_**Inazuma Tate**_

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

Ba-CRACK!

"DAMMIT! I'm up, I'm up!"

"Hurry up, Kuro! The Konoha Civilian Council has 'Demanded a reason for your unprovoked attack on Uchiha Sasuke'."

"... Oh fuck me."

"You wish, asshole."

"Well then, kindly leave the room as I clothe myself."

"Bastard."

A few minutes later, Kuro emerged through the remains of a wooden door, only to be greeted by the sight of a tense Naruto, and a nervous Tayuya. He grinned as he walked up to his teammates.

"Let's get this show on the road!"

Naruto and Tayuya simultaneously groaned.

"Shin Kuro, you have been brought before the council with regards to your unprovoked assault on Uchiha Sasuke. What do you say to this?"

Kuro shrugged, "The guy wanted to spar. I sparred. He lost, that's all there is to it."

A certain pink haired girl stood up slowly, grimacing slightly while clutching her stomach, "I saw what happened! You attacked Sasuke-kun after the match was over!"

Tayuya snorted, "Yeah, right. The Uchiha shithead stuck a Chidori through Kuro's chest after the match ended. If it wasn't a Tsuchi Bunshin, then Kuro would have died."

A nondescript brown haired man stood up, "I can attest to that. Sasuke did assault the Kumori shinobi after the match was over, and thus, Kuro-san's actions should be considered self-defense." Quite a bit of grumbling followed this statement as the man sat down. Suddenly, the doors to the council chambers burst open, nearly flying off the hinges as an angry Tsunade barged into the middle of the room.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? The civilian council doesn't have the authority to detain and question shinobi, especially shinobi from another village!"

Sakura stood up, trying to draw herself up to her full height, and wincing in pain as she did so. "Hokage-sama, I demand that the team from Kumorigakure be banned from taking the Chuunin examinations in Konoha!" The majority of the council members were nodding in agreement, while a few were shaking their heads and grumbling. Naruto quirked an eyebrow. '_Looks like a few people are starting to see Sasuke for what he really is. I bet that whole stabbing people in the back with a Chidori thing is starting to get people's attention._'

The brown haired council member stood up once again. "No charges are to be pressed, Haruno-san, Kuro-san was not breaking any laws by defending himself." Sakura's face turned red, before she stormed her way out of the chambers, closely followed by the rest of the council.

Tsunade shook her head, "Damn overreaching bastards."

Naruto chuckled, "Ne, it's fine, Hokage-sama, we didn't really have anything better to do this morning."

Kuro smiled, "They were busy doing it last night." Tayuya turned on Kuro and punched him through the doorway.

"Fucking bastard. Can I kill him?"

Naruto chuckled, "No Sanoni, you can't kill him. Kuro is our friend, remember? Besides, if you kill him, you'll have to tell Oyone about it."

Tayuya shuddered, "Good point."

Tsunade smiled, "Well, thank you for your patience in dealing with the civilians. God knows they can be a pain."

Naruto nodded, "Patience is a virtue. Goodbye, Hokage-sama." With that, Naruto and Tayuya dragged Kuro out of the Hokage tower.

Tsunade chuckled, "This is gonna be one hell of a Chuunin examination."

"Are you sure it's him?"

"Yes... His chakra lacks the taint of the Kyuubi, but it is the same."

"Damn it. The only reason I allowed him to be discharged was so that I could induct him into Ne, but that damn pink haired bitch ruined my plan."

"Now, now, even the best laid plans sometimes go awry, do they not, Danzo?"

"That is true, Orochimaru-sama. What is your plan, however?"

"I cannot tell you everything, but I will indulge you a little bit. Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto will be dead, or under our control by the end of the Chuunin exams."

"How-"

"He has become strong, ridiculously so, but he still has one weakness."

"The girl?"

"Exactly. Tayuya-chan will serve my purpose one last time."

A little short, but I'M JUST KIDDING!! MWAHAHAHA!!!

"So team, we have one day until the Chuunin exams. What should we do?" Kuro spoke as he pulled an apple from one of his many pockets, and began munching on it.

"I think I'm going to explore Konoha, I want to see if it's changed at all since I've left." Naruto spoke wistfully, glancing around at the brightly coloured stalls of the civilian market district.

Tayuya whacked him in the shoulder. "Liar. You're just going to that damn ramen stand you always talk about."

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "How'd you come up with that, Sanoni?"

Tayuya crossed her arms and glared at Naruto, "You talk in your sleep."

Kuro smirked, "And how exactly were you close enough to hear him, Sanoni?"

Tayuya's eye twitched, "I know what you're thinking, retard, and nothing happened like that."

Kuro smiled, "Okay then, _why_ were you close enough to hear Naruto in his sleep?"

Tayuya said nothing.

"I knew it."

"YOU BASTARD!"

Naruto smacked himself in the face. "Come on you two, how does it feel to leave me as the responsible one?"

Tayuya, who was poised to stab Kuro repeatedly in the left eye, and Kuro, who was holding a kunai away from his right eye, both felt a tremor of unnatural coldness seep into their bones.

"Damn freaky ass shit."

"I agree completely."

Naruto sighed as the three shinobi walked into the Ichiraku ramen stand. "No respect."

Kuro smiled as he took a seat. "Of course not, then I'd have to call you Byakko-sama, and that would just be wrong."

Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Right, what'll you three be having?" A brown haired waitress had come up on the other side of the counter.

"I'll have a Miso ramen."

"I'll have the same stupid shit that the bastard is having."

"I'll have four Beef, three Miso, and one Pork."

The waitress nearly tripped when she heard the last order.

"What? So much?"

Naruto nodded eagerly, "I'm so hungry I'll probably have more later, so don't worry."

The waitress's eye twitched, "DAAAD! Five Miso, four Beef, and one Pork!"

Kuro sat down quietly on the park bench as he listened to the wind in the leaves.

"Such an anomaly; the sound of wind in a tree. Peaceful, relaxing... And the name of a Hidden Village that has cut a bloody swath through all who oppose it." Kuro leaned back on the bench. "And yet this village is populated with such... Boneheads! It's no wonder that Uchiha is insane... I'd go insane if I ever have to hear another-"

A rustle in a bush, and Kuro was alert.

"Hello?"

The sound of people creeping closer, alerted Kuro that he was surrounded.

"I'm warning you – I'm armed!"

A shiver ran down his spine as he heard... A giggle?

Kuro was so surprised that he froze. A single moment of weakness, and their instincts allowed them to react.

"KURO-KUUNN!!!"

"Oh... SHIIIIT!!"

Naruto was suddenly stricken with the urge to laugh at Kuro. He managed to hold it in, but Tayuya was not so composed.

"Hahaha! Why am I laughing?"

Naruto pointed across to the park that was barely visible in the fading light. Kuro could be seen screaming in fear, and running as fast as he could, away from a horde of what could loosely be called girls. Some were old, some were young, and some were holding various pictures of Kuro.

Tayuya squinted slightly, "Damn, all of those pictures are from this morning, and they're all different! Konoha's civilians are creepy as all hell; fucking bimbos."

Naruto put an arm around Tayuya's shoulders, "Enjoy it while it lasts, for tomorrow it will be but a memory."

Tayuya turned towards Naruto and stared at him. "You acting wise. Stop it. Now. Or I'll have to hurt you. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

Naruto shuddered under Tayuya's glare. "O-of course not, Sanoni."

Tayuya smiled, although it seemed more like she was baring her teeth than

displaying a gesture of happiness. "Excellent."

Naruto sighed, and covered his face with his hand. He knew that soon, he would be forced to eat... Real food. He wasn't happy. At all.

Well, that's all I was able to get out. I really am sorry for taking so long, and then updating with this crap chapter, but there really wasn't anything more I could do with this chapter without dragging it out, painfully and constantly. Fortunately, I have been working on a plotline for this story, which should make everything run a little smoother, however, I have to focus on school... A lot. I am failing one class, and nearly failing two others, and I need to bring my marks up to a respectable number. Physics, Chemistry, Math, (Shudder). I really need to do well if I want to get into a decent University, considering I am hoping for a career in computer programming, web design, Video game developing, stuff like that. Ergo, you should thank an anonymous reviewer whose review was deleted for this chapter, I do believe your exact words were "Update you motherfucking asshole". Yeah. Unfortunately, anyone who reviewed chapter five has had their reviews deleted – I removed the chapter and updated it with this one. Don't worry though, I'm working on the next chapter when I don't have homework, and it should break the 10k word barrier, as my thanks to the readers, and my apologies for taking so long.

~Inazuma Tate~


End file.
